A beautiful filly was born at The Horse Shelter in May 2018 and was named Fortune. Her mother, Fiona, had arrived with a group of other feral horses, and several of the mares were pregnant.

Fortune was nurtured and handled at an early age. Like other horses at the rescue, she was taught to be haltered, caught, loaded in a trailer and stand quietly for a veterinarian and farrier. Her saddle training began in 2021 with Letizia Reato, who showed her in the shelter’s Gimme Shelter Adoption challenge, winning the freestyle contest. Fortune’s original adopter was not able to continue working with her, and Fortune was transferred to a ranch cowboy to be a working horse. The mare now enjoys a good life working on the New Mexico range under the guidance of her new owner, Tristan Martinez.

“She is my go-to horse,” said Martinez. “I do all sorts of ranch work on her; she will go all day to rope, drive and doctor cattle.”